Sunday, August 07, 2016

Another 'Home Run' for Jonathan Rosenblum

I believe that it’s safe to say that Charedi columnist,
Jonathan Rosenbulm is one of the most articulate and well informed spokesman
the Charedi world has. He is intelligent and well read on many subjects. He was
educated at two of the finest universities in the world, the University of
Chicago and Yale. It is also safe to say that he is a clear thinker, that
brings much knowledge and experience to bear in his commentaries on both the
world at large and his own Charedi world.

Jonathan was not born into the Charedi world. In fact he was
not even born into the Orthodox world. He attended a public high school in
Highland Park, Illinois and was not Shomer Shabbos. He is what is commonly
known as a Baal Teshuva... becoming observant well after high school.

I recall hearing him speak about his trek to observant
Judaism about 15 years ago. He began via the Modern Orthodox world, where he
was welcomed with open arms. Eventually he found his way to the Charedi world. And
spent many years in a Charedi Kollel after that. Now he is an accomplished Charedi
author and columnist that is widely respected in both worlds

I mention all this to point out the fact that no one can
accuse him of having lived a sheltered life. No one can say about him that he
is not knowledgeable about a wide variety of subjects - both religious and
secular. Which makes him pretty qualified to comment on those subjects in their various manifestations.

Which brings me to yet another article of his in Mishpacha Magazine where he expresses views that take courage to articulate in the world in which he lives. Views that have had the benefit of his intelligence and the wide range
of knowledge mentioned above. Which makes
them hard to dispute.

His point is that nostalgia is overrated both in the secular
and in the religious world. In the secular world the idea of ‘making America
great again’ expresses a desire to have an America that once was. Meaning
for example that manufacturing jobs should return to the US instead of
exporting them to foreign countries where labor is cheap.

By forcing American companies to hire American workers with some
sort of tax on products produced in foreign countries it removes the
advantage of cheap labor there. Thus it would disincentivize them from setting up
shop there and incentivize them to set up shop here – creating jobs for
American workers.

The ‘dirty little secret’ about such initiatives is that a it
would substantially increase the cost of making those products which would be
passed on to the consumer. Which would decrease demand; causing a decrease supply. Thus workers would be laid off anyway. Not to mention the fact that it
would spike inflation, making any increase in income offset by lower buying power of that income.

The same thing is true about raising the minimum wage. That will increase the cost of products or services by companies paying that wage which would be passed on to the consumer.

The same thing is true about creating government jobs like rebuilding our infrastructure (needed though it may be). That would increase the budget without any offsetting revenue. Unless taxes are raised. Which will stifle consumer spending.

And yet both the Republican and Democratic candidates want
to do exactly that. There is no way to create manufacturing jobs; raise the minimum wage; or create public works jobs without passing on the costs to the consumer. That is not a prescription for a successful economy.

Jonathan makes the same point with respect to nostalgia in the Charedi world. He
essentially makes the argument I have made many times. And implies that Charedi
rabbinic leaders are victims of that mentality comparing their level of
leadership to the biblical Yiftach. A leader whose short comings are spelled
out in the Gemarah. (Yet a leader of his generation no less, says the Gemarah).

Today’s leaders cannot just seek to imitate the past.
Today’s world does not in any way resemble the world of the Chazan Ish. We live
in a different time, says Jonathan. The Charedi world in Israel of that time
consisted of a few hundred families. They were overwhelmed by a national
philosophy that promoted a ‘new Jew’. One that was everything the Charedi world
was against. So they had to isolate themselves from what they saw a threat to
their very existence.

David Ben Gurion granted a draft deferral for Charedi Jews.
He saw it as a concession without any future consequence – believing that this
small segment of Jewry would soon be extinct.

Ben Gurion was obviously very wrong. Charedim are now 10%of
the population and growing exponentially. It is far from clear, says Johnathan
that this community can sustain itself in ‘splendid isolation’ – even if it
were permitted to do so! Certainly with modern technology permeating those
walls so easily.

The Chazon Ish’s task to rebuild the Charedi world destroyed
by the Holocaust has been achieved many times over. ‘The Charedi community
cannot be destroyed, at least not from the outside.’ Nor is there an
‘ideological enemy seeking to free itself from the shackles of Jewish
tradition, as there once was.’

Then there is the fact of diversity among Charedim. Today’s nearly one million souls is not just
that of the ‘1950s writ large’ says Jonathan. The Charedim of the Chazon Ish’s
day were highly ideological and highly motivated… dedicated to uphold the Charedi
banner. Not so in today’s highly diverse Charedi world. Unlike the Chazon Ish’s time - today’s
Charedi world has a variety of different talents; spiritual levels, and
intellectual capacities.

Says Jonathan - the Charedi leadership that commands so much
respect and awe from their constituents need to rise to the occasion and not
try and relive the past. Nostalgia is not a strategy. They need to meet the
challenges of today if they want their core values to be maintained.

I could not agree more. It takes a lot for courage for a
Charedi insider to criticize his leaders. Leaders that are viewed as the truest
expositors of Torah (to the exclusion of all others) by their constituents. But
this is what Jonathan has done here. And for that he deserves the support of
all Orthodox Jewry. Let me be among the first to do so.

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About Me

My outlook on Judaism is based mostly on the teachings of my primary Rebbe, Rabbi Aaron Soloveichik from whom I received my rabbinic ordination. It is also based on a search for spiritual truth. Among the various sources that put me on the right path, two great philosophic works stand out: “Halakhic Man” and “Lonely Man of Faith” authored by the pre-eminent Jewish philosopher and theologian, Rabbi, Dr. Joseph B. Soloveitchik. Of great significance is Rabbi, Dr. Norman Lamm's conceptualization and models of Torah U’Mada and Dr. Eliezer Berkovits who introduced me to the world of philosophic thought. Among my early influences were two pioneers of American Elementary Torah Chinuch, Rabbis Shmuel Kaufman and Yaakov Levi. The Yeshivos I attended were Yeshivas Telshe for early high school and more significantly, the Hebrew Theological College where for a period of ten years, my Rebbeim included such great Rabbinic figures as Rabbis Mordechai Rogov, Shmaryahu Meltzer, Yaakov Perlow, Herzl Kaplan, and Selig Starr. I also attended Roosevelt University where I received my Bachelor's Degree - majoring in Psychology.